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New sculpting and some baby poads. Not grab bags. Just some production ones to go with the old productions ones, like the zeppard poads, or the peach poad
Keeper of the Fledgings
So ultimately, those of you in favor of never making this sculpt available again through other limited runs because it was offered as a kickstarter “exclusive” would rather have Windstone not produce something that may or may not be profitable, which might help to keep their small business going, which those of us who have run/been involved in one of them, know that the profit margin is usually not very high, because you never would have bought them if you had known they would be released again later, and/or you would rather be in an “elite group” of people who could afford the whole kickstarter and buy up to the level where you could get one of the bean poads, who can say that they have one of these sculpts, and/or that by re-releasing them in some sort of limited run without any of the colorings offered on the Kickstarter, it would decrease the value be it monetary or “personal” of your sculpts? Look folks, I really do get it, and it was said it was an “exclusive sculpt for Kickstarter.” But as it is a painted item that could be taken to mean that it was an exclusive painted sculpt. Meaning that it could be re-released in some other fashion, painting wise, without having Windstone to run yet another Kickstarter which has considerable cost in time (which is money) to run. The secondary market and “recouping” costs aside, small businesses do not always know what is going to be wildly popular ahead of time, and what isn’t. To force said small business to limit something that turned out to be a good money maker and nit-picking over words for something that was offered as a “gift” or “extra” isn’t supporting the company. It’s being selfish and wanting something that no one else has. Different example. In my doll hobby a sculpt was released as a limited run. It turned out to be hugely popular, but at the time of release a lot of people couldn’t afford it yet, just missed the deadline, or came into the hobby after it was released. The small company, needing to make money to stay afloat, made a few very minor changes and re-released it under a different name. It was not as popular because many people still wanted the original one. So they came up with a way to re-release it on a limited basis. This angered some of the people who bought it when it was considered limited and would not be repeated. Why? Because they were no longer the only ones who had it. It was no longer as rare as it became attainable, albeit less so than the basic sculpts, and the “value” of their doll was “decreased.” So again, unless you are buying something because you intend to re-sell it, and unless you are non-supportive of a company doing what it has to do to stay in business, even if it means angering a few people, Windstone choosing to re-release something popular really shouldn’t be an issue. And I say all this not being a huge fan of poads, and I did have a very nice member who was able to afford the kickstarter level to get a bean poad (which I, at the time, was not) purchase an extra for me, but I am a huge fan of Windstone and supporting them whenever I can afford to. And that means I don’t think anything should be considered so “exclusive” or limited that the company is not “allowed” to re-release something they made as I have seen too many other niche small business in various hobbies go under for similar reasons. And all that said , maybe the bean poads are ridiculously hard to paint, like anything hatching, apparently, and Melody and co will say, no, they are not worth the hassle to keep making more of them. That I would respect, but not the cries of people who supported a comic book kickstarter and are mad that a “reward” for the Comic Kickstarter might not be “100% no one else can have it but me exclusive.” You all are great people and this has always been the nicest hobby community I have ever been a part of, but I can’t understand the mentality here.
Keeper of the Fledgings
Most of the stuff I back, and see, on Kickstarter is stuff that is likely eventually going to be released for sale to the general public. Just usually backers get it sooner, and often for less cost. The whole point of Kickstarter isn’t exclusivity. It’s to back something that might otherwise not get made because the artist cannot afford to do so without guaranteed backing to cover the cost of starting and producing it. To be forced to limit something to just a kickstarter, from a business standpoint, is not a good idea. Especially something as popular as the bean poads seem to be. Would also be like saying that if you didn’t get in the kickstarter you would never be able to read the comic. Again, foolish. Maybe you get a nicer copy, but if its something that makes a great deal of money, why wouldn’t Melody, or whoever else, want to release the same comic, albeit maybe without as many bells and whistles? As far as the bean poads go, no, they should not be exclusive if selling them is profitable for the amount of time and effort it takes to produce them Maybe the type of paint job done for the Kickstarter is never repeated, but to stop an entire sculpt that might be something profitable for the company makes no sense. Yes, we are all collectors and all love Windstone, and no, nobody likes to see the value of a special piece decrease, or you shell out a lot of money for a test paint on E-bay and then a nearly identical color comes up LP or production. But let’s not forget that Windstone is a business and fantasy figures are not a necessity, they are a luxury item. Which means that, given the current economy, and the amount of time and effort that we know goes into making them, and that we know Windstone is not some huge corporation, every bit of profit maybe critical to the survival of the company. And if that “test paint” hadn’t come out, and lots of people hadn’t like it and “squeaked” for more, then it might never have become production at all. So that one piece might retain some of the value but it would only ever be one piece.
So yeah, unpopular I’m sure, but frankly coming from more than one hobby and doing a small hobby business as well, and seeing how hard things have gotten even for well-known sellers and artisans, sorry, but if it makes enough money and is popular enough to continue making, then yes. Come up with a way to make and sell more. For the people who are mad because they assumed something would be a “one off”, or whatever the question should be would you have bought it and supported the company, or not? Not how much the value of X item might decrease if more of a similar item is released later. This happens a lot in my other hobbies. Yes, some people get mad, but the people who missed it, couldn’t afford it the first time around, weren’t even in the hobby yet only to realize they missed out on something they would have really liked, will all be happy to buy said item if it comes up again, even in some slightly altered and/or limited run again. And the people who are mad because they can’t get three times the original cost of the item on the secondary market, well, that just says that the reason you bought the item wasn’t because you wanted to keep it anyhow.
Keeper of the Fledgings
My rainbow fledge. I know, not very special or unique, but the fledge is and always will be my favorite sculpt, and rainbow my favorite color. Picking one is super hard, but there it is.
Keeper of the Fledgings
Here’s mine. As expected, not even close to one of the ones I wanted, even though the flowers are pretty. Just not my style. It’ll be up for trade or even a blind trade from the store.
[URL=https://beta.photobucket.com/u/Azurielle/p/55efea96-de70-4b58-99ec-92cd38381fa5][IMG]https://beta-static.photobucket.com/images/b151/Azurielle/s1/55efea96-de70-4b58-99ec-92cd38381fa5-original.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=https://beta.photobucket.com/u/Azurielle/p/9ae88967-b86c-4a4c-aea4-26943ccad14d][IMG]https://beta-static.photobucket.com/images/b151/Azurielle/s1/9ae88967-b86c-4a4c-aea4-26943ccad14d-original.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=https://beta.photobucket.com/u/Azurielle/p/452238cf-d87d-45b6-bd93-29a3b2f58db4][IMG]https://beta-static.photobucket.com/images/b151/Azurielle/s1/452238cf-d87d-45b6-bd93-29a3b2f58db4-original.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds[/IMG][/URL]Keeper of the Fledgings
Yeah, the turquoise one at the top right in the second row is my favorite, but someone beat me to it. Well, fingers crossed I get one similar. I’ve no luck with the grab bags though.
Keeper of the Fledgings
Ah, you got one of my favorites! Sending you a message about maybe trading, since mine hasn’t even arrived yet.
Keeper of the Fledgings
Hopefully before the hurricane hits us. Will be so sad if I miss due to power outage. ‘
Keeper of the Fledgings
Rad tech and battler of insurance companies on behalf of patients and general jack of all trades in the medical/orthopaedic/spine offices I’ve worked at. Including remover of live animals that somehow got in the building, fixer of ceiling tiles, and the go to person for “this computer/healthcare requirement thing we are now mandated to do but no one else wants to do it first and you’re the fastest reader we have.” And only one of those things is the job I went to school for.
Keeper of the Fledgings
This forum is, and has remained, unique and welcoming for all the years I’ve been apart of it. The people here tend to bend over backwards to help and there’s never a lot of snark or cliques, or anything.
Keeper of the Fledgings
Old Green Fledgling. He’s the only “production/limited edition” Fledge I’m missing. Whenever one came up for resale, couldn’t afford it. Whenever I could afford it, couldn’t find one. There were rumors years and years ago than another batch of them might get made, but never happened. Sigh.
Also a siamese cat wizard. Again, could never afford him when I found one, could never find one when I could afford one.
Also the Dreamscape Fledge. And tons of others, but mostly e-bay pieces, so could never afford them. Took me years to work up to getting my one Secret Keeper…and he’s glorious.
Keeper of the Fledgings
So, I know you’re probably tired of poads, but I would like to squeak for some baby poads to match the “production” store ones, like the zeppards, or the peach young one, or even like the podge ones on the kickstarter. Just some baby poads in “natural” colors and maybe not too fancy?
Keeper of the Fledgings
Well, I’ve got as many as I could afford right now and I adore them! Need to save up for the OW, Emp, and Secret Keeper now.
Keeper of the Fledgings
